Regardless of one’s political stripe or viewpoint, we the people are bonded by the faith that our lawmakers will abide by a fair process conducting the people’s business. But that did not happen last December. This was an affront to our democracy.

Executive Director Bob Phillips announced that Common Cause NC and 10 residents of NC filed a lawsuit that alleges that the one-day session on December 15, 2016 – as well as the two bills passed into law that day – is unconstitutional. Read more here.

THIS JUST IN – VETO STAMP TIMES TWOAs promised, Governor Roy Cooper has vetoed HB 239 that reduced the NC Court of Appeals from 15 to 12 members. He wrote, “Having three fewer judges will increase the court’s workload and delay timely appeals. Just as bad is the real motivation of Republican legislators, which is to stack the court with judges of their own party. In addition, I believe this legislation is unconstitutional, and we should all be concerned about unwarranted attacks on the judiciary.” Read the governor’s veto message here.

The Governor also vetoed SB 68 that combined the State Board of Elections with the State Ethics Board. This was a “tweaked” bill that answered last month’s 3-judge panel ruling that the General Assembly overstepped their authority by combining these two boards. "This is the same unconstitutional legislation in another package, and it’s an attempt to make it harder for people to register and vote," Governor Cooper said. Read the governor’s veto message here.

CROSSOVER WEEKCrossover deadline is next Thursday, April 27. That means that next week at the General Assembly will be chaos: long days, unscheduled meetings, cancelled meetings, and recesses, while legislators desperately vie to get their bills passed and sent to the other chamber. Non-appropriation or finance bills that do not pass one chamber are dead for the short session.